2.2.5.1.2 Electoral systems and traditions

Both the United States and Canada enjoy well-established democratic traditions. The United States follows a federal form of government, with three branches (executive, legislative, and judicial) that are designed to check and balance each other. The legislative branch has a bicameral structure, with one branch (the House of Representatives) representing the general population on a proportional basis, and the other branch (the Senate) representing the several States on a two-vote-per-state basis.

Canada's system of government combines elements of the American federal structure with the British unitary "Westminster" model. Like the U.S., the Canadian system has an executive, legislative, and judiciary branch; however, some elements of the executive and legislative are combined, in that the majority party in the legislature also controls the executive.

Both the U.S. and Canadian systems rely heavily on direct election to fill most public offices. Also, the United States electorate is characterized by a fundamental distrust of government, especially as they become removed from the people from whom they ultimately derive their authority. This may be relevant to an understanding of why many in this region pushed for a direct election of At-Large board members; direct elections are generally thought to provide a more tangible and direct form of accountability from the elected to the electorate.

With specific reference to domain name governance, Canada has accumulated recent experience through its redelegation of the Canadian ccTLD, ".ca." Until recently, ".ca" was administered on a voluntary basis by John Demco of the University of British Columbia. On December 1, 2000, the domain was redelegated to a non-profit organization established specifically for the purpose, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA). The tenor of CIRA's policymaking is set by a ten-member Board of Directors. Seven seats on the Board will be assumed by the winners of a recent election; the other three are allocated to organizations representing Internet users, registrars, and the commercial Internet industry.

While it is not yet possible to objectively evaluate how CIRA will fare in the long term, the organization seems to have gained acceptance by much of the Canadian Internet community, as well as the ICANN community.

The United States is currently wrestling with similar questions to those confronted by the Canadians in CIRA's creation. At the time of this report's writing, the American Department of Commerce had recently closed a Request For Quotations (RFQ) soliciting bids for a new administrator of the ".us" ccTLD. The RFQ seems to diverge from the Canadian model in that ".us" will likely be delegated to a for-profit operator, but key questions about ".us" administration are as-yet unanswered.

2.2.5.1.1 Internet use

2.2.5.1.3 Perception of ICANN's Mission and the Need for Public Representation